Only us, that's all that matters
by Lodke-Veritas
Summary: 3 years after the attack on Hueco Mundo, Ichigo finds himself in a world of despair due to the events there. A love that transcends life and death is to be born.
1. Swirling Torrents

Resurrection of the Beloved

Ichigo did not feel pain as the steel cut through his flesh. Ichigo didn't feel

the sword sliding through his own flesh towards his heart. All Ichigo could feel

was surprise as Aizen slipped past his defense into close quarters and plunged

his blade through the vizard's chest. There was no pain or fear or even blood,

only the slightest gasp of surprise as the cold metal cut his beating heart in

twain.

Ichigo tried to swallow, but felt something blocking his throat, something

restricting him. His vision suddenly burst and he could see everything clearly.

Aizen's cool smile that hid loathing and malice took the greater part of his

sight up, but Ichigo could make out each imperfection, each pore upon the flesh

clearly. He could see just how deep the gash above Aizen's right eye went and

how close it was to healing. Each flake of blood in the drying downpour seemed

as distinguishable as two different people. The room of solid black marble they

had occupied seemed to always remain unbroken and perfect, even as they fought,

but now that had changed. Ichigo's now perfect eyes could see the fissures and

chips that each attack, each swing of the zanpaktoh had chiseled out of the

obscenely strong stone.

As suddenly as it had come the grand vision faded, spikes and wings of black

edging in against his vision. He fought to keep standing, fought to keep going,

fought to stare Aizen down even as he was impaled upon the betrayer's zanpaktoh.

"Worthless." Aizen mocked in his slippery voice, "First the girl, and now you.

You human's are so easy to kill." His laughter was low and lilting, a sound that

made Ichigo's stomach churn and his skin crawl. Aizen twisted the blade,

wrenching his already torn heart into shreds. Now Ichigo felt pain, now he felt

fear, for now, darkness enveloped him.

Ichigo sat up, bolt straight in bed, his hand over his heart, as he tried to

calm his rapid breath. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of his own room, that

sweet comfortable black after one so horrid. His body was covered in a sheen

layer of sweat and his chest pitched up and down, breath wheezing in his dry

throat.

His heart slowed, his breath eased, and Ichigo again found moisture in his

mouth. With a sigh he collided with the uncomfortable dampness of his own sheets

and pillow. With a grumble he turned and hung his feet over the edge, sitting

up. Ichigo leaned forward and rested his elbow upon his knee and head upon his

hand. He stared with his eyes closed at nothing. He looked to his bedside clock,

it read 3:00 AM. It was extremely early, much earlier than he normally awoke,

but he didn't feel the dregs of sleep lingering on his mind or eyes.

Realizing this he stood and tore his boxers off, grabbing a towel from the wash

pile next to his hamper. When he had wrapped the cotton cloth about his waist he

opened the door to a dark hallway. Sticking his head out, he checked both

directions, he was definitely not in the mood for his father to come flying out

of the black begging for an ass whooping. Deeming it safe he stepped out into

the hall, not bothering to flick the light switch, but enjoying the coolness of

the dark upon his skin. He strode down the hall, easily picking out the door

that lead to the bathroom seeing as how it sill had Kon's arm nailed to it. He

chuckled remembering that, oh how the little bastard had squealed. Ichigo he

would be harassing Rukia, or for that matter, any girl, ever again.

The door opened with a small squeak that normally went unheard, but in this time

when the hour was none, the vizard cringed at the high-pitched echo that seemed

to permeate the house. He slipped inside the half-opened door and closed it

behind him softly, once again wincing as the door screamed. Here he found the

light switch and flicked it on. The old light bulb flickered for an instant as

the electrons in the wires worked out their kinks, and then burst into brilliant

light that bathed the bathroom in stark shadows and yellow light.

The room was small and filled with bright colors and flowery smelling soaps.

Ichigo and Karin had opted out of helping decorate their shared bathroom, but

Yuzu jumped at the chance. Now the room was filled with pinks and yellows as

well as an array of reds and bright oranges. Ichigo always felt he smelled like

he was leaving a perfume shop whenever he walked out of here. He wouldn't lie,

at least to himself, on some level he did enjoy the fragrant scents and warm

feeling the room gave off. No way would he ever tell anyone that though.

Ichigo reached behind the glass of the standing shower and turned the knob to

'hot'. Even here, in this room, he could hear the pipes chug as they brought

water up from the ground to the second floor of the Kurosaki home. Frowning

slightly, he turned from the shower to the bath mirror above the sink. Seeing

himself there in the mirror, he finally realized he had changed in the past

three years since…since they had gone to Hueco Mundo for Orihime.

'Three whole years' Ichigo thought to himself, 'Three whole years and Aizen

still haunts my dreams,' Ichigo saw himself there, in the mirror, a few inches

taller, and not nearly as skinny as he was then. Ichigo was in no way fat, but

in the years since Hueco Mundo, the hunting and fighting of hollows made his

muscles grow while keeping his body nearly devoid of fatty tissue. His body bore

scars transferred from his soul, there are some spiritual wounds so grave that

they even carve at the flesh, whether it is present or not. Aizen's was one of

those.

Ichigo traced the hideous red scar across the center of his chest, over his

heart. Orihime had healed him, but she had not been able to rid him of the

injury completely. He grimaced as a twinge of pain soared through his chest as

his fingers lightly touched the tightened flesh over the wound. More scars

marked his muscled arms and back, but this one, the one upon his heart, was by

far the greatest and most gruesome. Like a spiked crucifix, it crossed his heart

that had once been torn to bits.

His amber eyes wandered from his scars to his own eyes, where a different pain

lay waiting for mind and memory to trip over them. He felt it hidden behind his

own consciousness. His mind was trying to shield him from that sorrow, that

sorrow because he knew he had failed. A withering breath escaped his lungs and

he cast his glance away from the reflective betrayal of the mirror. Ichigo hung

the white cotton towel on the rod screwed into the wall haphazardly by his idiot

father, half amazed when the thing didn't fall off the wall like he was every

other morning.

He stepped into the shower, letting loose the cloud of steam that had been

building up behind the glass, and closed the sliding door behind him. Ichigo

loved the burning sensation of the super heated water coursing over his naked

flesh, savoring both the pain of the heat and the pleasure of relief. Time

slipped by and Ichigo slipped into a dark reverie of lost memories. The water

splashing upon his face did nothing to disturb him from his dark recollection.

His memories were blocked from his wandering mind at most times, but he found

that most often when he should be sleeping, one or two facts or images would

seep to the surface of his mind, each more jarring than the last all building up

to the horrifying truth that he and his friends had lived with for just over

three years. From what he had been able to gather so far he knew that he had

died. He had died upon Aizen's blade. A short time later he had been awakened to

find Orihime's protective barrier over him, her concerned face tearstained as

her brow furrowed in concentration. Behind her Grimmjow Jaggerjack stood,

fending off Aizen's blade in his released form, though he fared no better than

Ichigo had. He soon was dispatched, though not slain.

Then Aizen turned on Orihime, she had met Ichigo's eyes and he knew what she was

doing. He tried to scream, but couldn't. He tried to shove her aside, but the

barrier kept him pinned under extraordinary weight. He could do naught but watch

as Aizen's bloodlust caused the end of Orihime's life, that forsaken blade that

had pierced his heart now severing her head in one swift arc. Ichigo's body

quaked as Orihime's head bounced across the ground, leaving a playful stream of

blood in it's wake. Her body slumped forward against her own barrier.

Now Aizen waited, he waited for Ichigo to heal so that he could slay the Vizard

once more. Slay him and mock him and paint the walls with his boiling red blood.

Aizen's cools smile crept upon his bloodstained face, his stark white teeth

standing out like the full moon in the empty night's sky. Ichigo felt the

barrier begin to wane, felt the weight on his chest weaken. Then there is only

blackness. It is almost like a missing part of film on a reel, but not quite.

The movie begins again a week later, lying in the basement of Urahara shop.

Apparently Chad had carried both Ichigo and Grimmjow back into the living realm

from Hueco Mundo, Ishida leading the way and opening the necessary doors. There

the Arrancar and the Vizard recuperated, licking their wounds each with a

crushing reality closing in around them. Grimmjow was an Arrancar without

purpose, lost in a world not his own. Ichigo had failed not only his friends,

but also the woman he cared most for, though he had never dared show it.

The nemeses had regained their health rapidly, walking around again in a matter

of days, rather than weeks, but each found they had scars that would never heal.

Both Grimmjow and Ichigo could not recall what had happened to Aizen, all they

had to go on was Chad and Ishida's word that the man was no where to be seen in

the black stone room where they had found them. Aizen could still be out there,

or he could be a pile of ash caught on the ever-drifting winds of Hueco Mundo,

as long as he never showed his face again, Ichigo didn't care.

Finally something jolted him from his trance; a soft pounding came at the door

of the bathroom. Coming to himself, Ichigo cleared his throat and called out of

the shower, "Yea, what is it?"

Karin's voice challenged him through the thin wooden door, "Ichigo, hurry the

fuck up! You've been in there since I woke up!" she practically screamed at him.

Confused, Ichigo called back, "Calm down, baka, what time is it?"

Outraged, Karin screamed back, "It's eight in the morning, dobe, now get out I

gotta go to school in like, five minutes!" Ichigo knew she was exaggerating the

time she had, but was it really eight already? Or was she just playing a prank

on him that would wake the house? Either way, he remembered it was her first day

of high school today and thought it best not to test his sister's anger. It was

only now that he realized the tighness of his skin signifying that he had been

standing under a downpour of cold water that should have had him shivering and

yelping. He did neither.

Ichigo turned off the water and quickly toweled off, stepping out of the shower

and opening the bathroom door enough to let Karin see his 'naked' body. With and

angry face he yelled at her through the crack in the door, "Calm down, I'm

almost done." He closed the door right in her face, waiting for the curses to

spout from her. Sure enough they were right behind the closure of the door.

Truthfully, Ichigo didn't have any more to do; he just wanted to mess with his

sister, her anger be damned. Chuckling to himself Ichigo leaned against the door

for five minutes. Finally, he opened the door and Karin practically shoved him

out of the way and jumped in the shower. Tossing her robe over the glazed glass

before Ichigo could even leave the room. Ichigo hurried from the room before she

could turn the water on.

Halfway to his room his ears were graced by the horrified shriek of his sister

as the ice cold water met her naked skin. Her holler shook the house's

foundations, "Ichigo, I will kill you!" There was murder in her voice, and

Ichigo didn't doubt that if he was present at that moment, she would have. This

sent a shiver down his spine as he entered his room.

He undid the towel and was about to toss it in the hamper, but froze and quickly

redid it as he saw Yuzu making his bed for him. She folded down the sheets and

the bedspread and fluffed his pillow. She herself was still in her pajamas, pink

pants with yellow puppy dogs, a tank top covered by a robe. She laughed to

herself as she saw Ichigo frantically turn and put the robe back on out of the

corner of her eye. It wasn't like she hadn't seen her brother naked before,

accidents happen, but she thought it humorous that he still jumped like a

jackrabbit when he noticed she was around where he wasn't expecting her.

"There you go, Ichigo," Yuzu said, proud of her work, "All made." She offered

him a smile full of sisterly adoration.

"You know I don't like you coming in my room. Especially if you're going to do

my chores." Ichigo told her flatly.

"Oh, I know you don't mean that!" She offered cheerfully. How she ever managed

to stay so happy after their mother died, Ichigo had no idea. Maybe it was

because she was so young that she didn't even remember her, but Ichigo knew that

wasn't true. Yuzu had once confided that her earliest memory of life was their

mom's smiling face. Aside from pictures, it was all she had. Ichigo finally

broke and offered her a weak smirk.

"How 'bout," Ichigo began to think out loud, "After you get off of school and I

get off of work, I'll come pick you and Karin up. Then we'll go to the ice cream

parlor or something."

Yuzu shot him an awkward smile as she passed him on her way out of his room,

"Ice cream parlor? What are you, seventy?" Ichigo just mussed her hair as she

passed and closed the door behind the petite girl. His smirk faded into that

flat expression that has cursed his features since his mother's death, except it

had grown somehow sadder in the past three years. Not sad as in sobbing tears

and pain, but more of a deep seated angst and pain that he knows he will have to

live with for the rest of his life and knows there is no way around it.

Ichigo closed the door behind her and rested his head against the cool wood.

A familiar voice greeted his ears, "Yo, Ichigo!"

The orange headed vizard looked about to his window where the new and improved Kon stood, balanced on the windowsill. Urahara had managed to give him a home so Ichigo didn't have to deal with the obnoxious stuffed animal, and then after Rukia taught Kon about manners, Urahara had made him a new body. Though he was still a stuffed animal, he was now a brown bear instead of that strange yellow lion. The bear was decked out in silver plushy armor that was stitched to it's body. He was pounding on the window making a soft whisking sound as the furry fluff impacted the glass. Ichigo opened the window to Kon, "What is it, I'm busy."

"Doing what?" The plushy bit back snidely, "Jacki- Hey what are you doing?!"

Ichigo had grabbed the plushy about the neck and began pawing his nightstand for his lighter. He flicked the cap open and pressed down on the flint, "I'll keep this simple Kon. Tell me what you want, and you get to keep your new body. Otherwise we'll test it's combustability." An evil grin broke Ichigo's sorrow; he thoroughly enjoyed tormenting this plushy annoyance. It was then something unexpected happened.

Grimmjow's stark blue hair appeared in the window above that razor sharp face, the arrancar mask hidden my magic, "Put him down Ichigo," His old enemy and new friend warned, "Urahara want's to see you. It's important."


	2. Leaving Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Ichigo or Bleach or any anime for that matter.

Enjoy.

* * *

Ichigo stepped out of his house, cold pop tart in hand, just in time to see his two sisters, Yuzu and Karin, round the corner onto the main road. Kon bounced on the ground after leaping from the roof, the arrancar landing smoothly beside him. Ichigo met his formerly dead counterpart's eyes steadily, taking a bite of the frosting covered strawberry pastry.

The blue haired demon had become an odd friend over the past three years. After the return from Hueco Mundo they had become frequent training partners. Their strengths were the only ones even close to each other and Grimmjow never truly cared about Aizen's goals to begin with. Ichigo reflected it was much like his battle with Kisame. They had fought to near death and had returned from that black brink as a sort of friend.

The Vizard's had welcomed Grimmjow, they did give him his space, but he was free to walk among them as a type of 'honorary' Vizard. Afterall, the Arrancar and Vizard are only a hop and a skip away from similar. Then there was the way Chad looked up to Grimmjow as a type of mentor. It seemed the closer one was to a hollow the more you drew friends from the same ilk.

Ishida was still, well, an outcast, but he was welcome in Ichigo's mind. This was another of those things he would never breathe aloud.

The strangest occurrence in the past three years, however, had be Tatsuki. She had utterly freaked out when Ichigo had broken the news to her of what happened to Orihime. The real news, not some made up story to shield her from the truth. The women's boxing champ of Japan had wiped the floor with Ichigo. She had beaten him black and blue and halfway across town shouting in her sorrow. He still felt his joints swell whenever a bad storm was coming. Then the Arrancar did something that Ichigo never would have expected, Grimmjow comforted her.

When Tatsuki finally didn't have enough will in her to hurt Ichigo after nearly crippling him, Grimmjow had gone to her and held her as she wept. Ichigo lay there twitching on the ground and all he could do was thank Grimmjow for being able to do what he couldn't for his dear friend, his nawakama.

From there Tatsuki had refused to talk to Ichigo unless absolutely necessary, and that had only been the one time she had asked for some one else who could help her train her powers. Chad had forced her to come to him.

In the end Youroichi had taken her overseas, not just training her physical prowess, but her spiritual abilities as well. From time to time Ichigo received word of them through the grapevine of Urahara's shop, but that was all.

Ichigo nodded to the Arrancar and spirit module before him, "What's the word from Urahara." His words were cool and collected, despite the various crumbs of pastry that spewed from his mouth.

"Oy, why should we tell you, Ichi," Kon mocked, puffing out his chest, "It's not as if you'll be any help."

"What d'ya mean? Why else would you come here!" Ichigo yelled, making as if to grab at the stuffed animal, Kon.

"We came for Karin, she's much better at this kind of thing than you." Kon shouted back, in nearly the same position as Ichigo, "She's easier on the eye's too!"

"You better not be thinking about making a pass at my sister!" Ichigo's eyes now burned with fire as he argued with Kon.

"Why not? I used to sleep with her all the time! Late at night when she'd run her hand's over her young body and mo-"

"That's enough!" Grimmjow silenced Kon mid sentence, stepping forcefully upon the armored bear's head, "Perverted little fuck." Grimmjow spat. Grimmjow jaggerjack now turned to Ichigo and, nonchalantly, mentioned what Urahara had sent them here for, "Urahara said there's something stirring, he thought you might want to dabble in the hero biz after so long on the sidelines."

It was true, Ichigo had only slain the occasional hollow, leaving the greater portion of them up to the Soul Society's representative in Karakura town. The orange headed young man nodded and began to set off towards the Urahara Shop with Grimmjow, leaving Kon twitching on the ground.

* * *

Light, she felt…light. It had been so long since that sensation had caressed her consciousness, she adored it, basked in it, drank it in. The girl…woman…child…she opened her eyes and gazed out upon a twinkling city of electric lights. The city seemed to reverberate with light and sound. The spectator, standing atop the highest of all the buildings, cherished this.

She wanted to taste that light, feeling that heartbeat was not enough; she had to take it, make it her own. The girl, woman, temptress, princess, leapt from the building, the wind blowing through long strands of hair, she flew through the night. The street rushed up at her, and somebody screamed, the creature diverted it's flight towards that scream, smelling the fear. It led her straight to the powerful light she adored.

The creature attacked the light, trying to take it from whoever would keep it from her. First one being fell, and the beast drank the light, she was so hungry, she needed more. Much more food was needed to sate this impossible thirst.

* * *

Ichigo entered the Urahara shop with Grimmjow and Kon in tow, he was greeted by Urahara himself in the main entryway.

"Ichigo! It has been too long!" Urahara held the fan before his face as usual, "Why have you waited so long to come visit me?"

"We were here yesterday, Urahara," Grimmjow groaned at the older man's antics.

"Yea, no kidding hat-n-clogs, you must be getting senile." Ichigo jested. Suddenly Ichigo found himself on the floor, the side of his face feeling freshly beaten.

"Oh my," Urahara waved his fan, "You must be very careful, I just had the floor waxed."

Grimmjow shuddered, Kon stood in wonder, was Urahara really that fast?

Ichigo grumbled as he picked himself off the obviously not freshly waxed floor, the scuff marks obvious on the beaten wood. One day he would be able to get Urahara, but that day was not today. Clouds of dust came from Ichigo's clothes as he brushed them off, "What did you want us for, Urahara?"

"Such a rush to business? Come in, sit, have some tea!" Urahara left the room for another and the three followed, the tow living ones grumbling, the small stuffed one moping.

As soon as Ichigo stepped into the hall he was assaulted. Warmth and soft skin pressing against him crying, "Ichi-kun!" Purple hair covered his eyes; he immediately resisted and pushed the assailant back kindly. Before him stood Youroichi, eyes smiling as she gave him a coy grin. Behind her Urahara stood next to Tatsuki who only just barely wasn't glaring at him.

Youroichi said something that he didn't catch, "What?" He said stupidly.

"I said something in English, sorry. After two years over there that language has kind of integrated itself into my speech." Yourichi said with a bit of a mischievous glint. Ichigo took note that she hadn't repeated what he had said.

"So you've been in England?" Ichigo asked, "Or America?" This time he put the question to Tatsuki, trying to pull her into the conversation. Even if she hated him, he still thought of her as a close friend and wanted things to go back to how they were, knowing they never could.

Tatsuki didn't say anything, but she did walk boldly up to Ichigo, pushing her mentor aside. Her face was a mixture of betrayal and insecurity. She spread her arms wide and continued to glare at Ichigo. Ichigo didn't understand at first, but then Tatsuki stepped forward and embraced him. He returned the friendly hug, hopeful and doubtful. She spoke up as she drew away, looking him in the eye, "Both, Ichigo, we've been all over the place."

Ichigo's eyes widened, they had been gone for a very long time, it was not unreasonable that they had been both places and more on top of that. Still astounded to see his long lost friend, he continued to question right on the heels of her answer, "Well what have you been doing?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Urahara cut in, "If we are going to be catching up we may as well be comfortable, now come on in, let's sit." He gestured to a door Ichigo hadn't noticed him open, inside was a table set with early morning snacks and juices as well as assorted fruits. Next to this display the pop tart Ichigo had devoured seemed like nothing. His stomach audibly grumbled, drawing the attention of the small crowd.

"Heh, heh, guess I need more to eat than pop tarts in the morning." He scratched his head embarrassed. Tatsuki sighed as some of the others laughed. He could have sworn he heard Youroichi call him a dumb ass under her breath, but he wasn't sure. They all entered and sat, Kon taking a warning close position between Youroichi and Tatsuki.

They both looked the same, yet it was the small things that made Ichigo aware of the time that had passed. Youroichi looked only slightly older and was dressed in street clothes; tight Capri pants and sneakers going along with a purple shirt that clung hinting to her form and matched her hair. Tatsuki, however, looked much different for remaining the same. Her hair was just slightly longer, but it had caused her hair to gather about her head rather than in her identifying random spikes. It curved slightly to her head sensually, but not really sexily. The hair covered part of her cheek, at first Ichigo wondered why, but after a few glances he found that it covered a scar along the side of her jaw that had not been there before. Her body was still muscled and lithe, but that limberness was hidden beneath baggy cargo pants and a strange combination of a sleeved shirt that left her shoulders uncovered and a tank top. All in all they were two very different people, yet they were the people he knew.

"So, Ichigo," Tatsuki began after some idle banter, "You wanted to know what Yourichi and I have been up to?" The orange-headed boy nodded around a mouthful of strawberries and melon. She laughed at this, he was still the same, if a slight bit more morose and stronger, "Well, we've been traveling around and I have been training under Yourichi, challenging dojos all over the world. It was amazing, Ichigo."

The former cat, now temptress, nodded smiling around a tiny pastry, "Yup, Tatsuki here remains the unnamed champion of the fighting world." At this recognition a slight blush of modesty colored Tatsuki's cheeks. Everyone around the table congratulated her.

"Mazeltov!" Grimmjow said louder than anyone else.

Ichigo gave him a strange look, "Mazeltov?"

"Yea, it's Hebrew for congratulations." Grimmjow nodded as he nibbled on a piece of toast.

Ichigo laughed, "What are you, Jewish?"

"Yea," Grimmjow said, the laughter starting to get under his skin, "What of it? Huh?"

Ichigo's laughter dimmed immediately, "Umm…nothing, I just didn't have you pegged as…a….y'know…a jew."

Grimmjow glared but took this as a suitable excuse and returned to nibbling his food.

The breakfast recollections continued, shared stories of humorous adventures by all parties. Some stories further past than some care to remember, some including friends they didn't wish to remember. Rukia and Orihime, Renji and Byakuya, and Chizuru Shinji. All of them were gone now, either from hollows or the darkness of the living world. It seemed that this small group was one of the few able to actually survive the torments of both worlds.

"How…What happened to Chizuru?" Tatsuki asked, she had been shocked at first to find that her old anti-friend had passed away, but that shock had passed into that mutual understanding of the immortal young.

Everyone about the table shared a look, minus Tatsuki and Youroichi, it was Ichigo that finally spoke, "She was out one night, and, the police assume, that she was cornered and assaulted. The attacker took her life and her dignity."

Tatsuki look confused for a moment about the last remark, but then realization dawned on her, Chizuru had been raped and murdered. Fire burned in her eyes, "What happened to the attacker."

"He now resides in hell," Grimmjow answered, "I made sure of that while Ichigo hunted down Chizuru and escorted her to Soul Society. Took us three weeks to find the man and Chizuru's spirit, but we pulled through in the end."

It seemed they had all lost their appetite. Unaware of it, they all shared a thought regarding the rapidly darkening nature of Karakura Town. Gangs had become bolder and more frequent; a murder was not unheard of nor was muggings and assault. Chizuru just when down in the books as another teenage girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. That seemed to be the way most people went.

"The world is falling apart it seems," Youroichi commented, voicing their silent thoughts, "The hollows grow stronger on this side, some are even as strong as they would be in Hueco Mundo."

This made Ichigo shudder, the Arrancar had gone into remission in Hueco Mundo, they had no desire for the souls of earth. They each just chose to carve out their own little alcove in the deserts of Hueco Mundo and be left alone. Only one Arrancar had truly found its way into Ichigo's heart, and that was Nell. She now walked the hollow world with her brothers and their pet, happy to be with each other and unbothered.

"And that's why you're here, isn't it?" Ichigo broke the slight silence, "You've encountered a hollow you can't deal with and you need our help." Youroichi nodded her agreement to Ichigo's words. Tatsuki looked unsure, but followed Youroichi's example and offered a simple nod, "Where is the hollow?"

"California, a state of the US." Tatsuki answered.

"When should we leave?"

"As soon as possible." Youroichi said, "This hollow isn't following normal patterns. She's not coming after the powerful spirit beings, it's attacking everyone. While it doesn't kill it's victims, hundreds have been hospitalized already and it grows by the day."

"I can leave tonight, assuming there's a flight." Ichigo shrugged. He wasn't too worried about the hollow. If he had Grimmjow and Youroichi fighting with him they would make quick work of it. Not to mention Urahara and Tatsuki.

At his words Yourichi flashed him a stack of plane tickets, and Ichigo offered a smirk. They had been able to predict his answer. Looks like he and Grimmjow were headed to America.

* * *

Author's Note: I know this was mostly just talk and development, sorry for that, but I felt it necessary. I promise more action soon.

* * *

Next Time on BLEACH :

Ichigo stared into those eyes he had gone so long without seeing, those peaceful orbs that made his heart beat faster each time they caught his. Shock and thrill coursed through him, he knew this person.


End file.
